Amazon's just-above-entry-level tablet offers impressive bang for the buck, especially for subscribers to Amazon Prime, who can stream music and download select movies and TV shows for offline viewing. Even without that perk, the Fire HD 7 offers fast performance, dual cameras, a choice of colors, and parental-control features currently unmatched by any other tablet maker. However, storage is limited (8GB or 16GB) and can't be expanded, and screen resolution falls short of some competing models. Of course, that hasn't stopped buyers from scooping up the tablet in droves.

For an inexpensive tablet, the Fire HD 7 satisfies with a practical, family-friendly operating system, but those interested in a 7-inch tabl…

For an inexpensive tablet, the Fire HD 7 satisfies with a practical, family-friendly operating system, but those interested in a 7-inch tablet can find models with better build quality in the same price range.

This affordable tablet is a great content delivery system for Amazon but is beaten in most other areas by rival devices at similar price poi…

This affordable tablet is a great content delivery system for Amazon but is beaten in most other areas by rival devices at similar price points. Average build quality belies decent internal specifications and impressive stereo sound.

I've had problems with these where after several months it stops charging, or just randomly crashes while you are in the middle of something. Amazon replaced it for free, but even the replacements stopped working after awhile. The interface seems to lag a lot more than other tablets, I'm guessing it's because the processor is not powerful enough. It's also annoying that it doesn't have the Android Marketplace. You have to get apps from Amazon's app store, which has less apps on it, and the apps it does have gets updated less frequently than in the Android Marketplace. I recommend instead getting an iPad mini, or if you want to stick with Android get a Samsung tablet. You can install the Kindle app on those devices and still get all the books and movies that you purchase from Amazon.